Jewish Boy, Crucified by Nazis, Saved by Russian Sailors; Jewish Heroes Honored

The crucification by the Nazis of a twelve-year-old Jewish boy, Sioma Grinberg, who was captured while carrying staff documents and maps for the Red Army during the battle for Sevastopol, was reported today in the Pravda.

Young Grinberg joined the Russian troops after his mother had been violated and murdered before his eyes by a group of Nazis who invaded their home. Volunteering for a reconnaissance mission which required someone whom the Germans would not suspect of being a Russian soldier, Sioma was sent to the Nazi lines to secure certain necessary information. He was captured by the Germans who did not believe that he was just an innocent, homeless child. Unable to force any information from the boy, the Nazis crucified him and built a fire of twigs under his feet. Eventually the flames which were licking Sioma’s feet burned through the base of the cross and it toppled to the ground. The Germans left him for dead, but Russian sailors who occupied the sector shortly afterwards found him still alive and nursed him back to health. His hair, the Pravda report states, has turned almost completely gray.

The Soviet press today also carries lists of Jews who have been decorated for heroism. Among them is Ruben Himleman, commander of a Soviet mine layer, who was posthumously awarded the Order of Lenin, for remaining on the bridge of his vessel under severe bombardment from enemy planes and for skillfully directing antiaircraft fire resulting in the destruction of many Messerschmidts.

Another posthumous award was given to Junior Lieutenant Aaron Ruslekov, who led a company of Soviet infantry in a nine-hour attack on the strongly fortified village of Karpovka on the Kalinin front. Although the Germans were entrenched in every house and had laid extensive mine fields around their positions, Ruslokov and his detachment succeeded in driving out the Nazis. Towards the end of the battle, when the Germans were in full retreat, the young commander, who had been a pianist before the war, came in contact with an enemy mine and was killed. He was buried with full military honors and the regiment’s commander delivered a eulogy over his grave.